Greg Steube: “As stewards of America's hard-earned taxpayer dollars we must ensure such funds only go to measures that advance our…”

“As stewards of America's hard-earned taxpayer dollars we must ensure such funds only go to measures that advance our American interests, not undermine them. We have provided billions of dollars to Iraq and lost thousands of lives in that country. Yet in 2023, we continue to provide a blank check to Iraq, despite this country going more and more against American interests and essentially having transformed into a proxy of Iran. My amendment ensures that none of Americans' taxpayer dollars may be used to provide assistance to Iraq. I served in Iraq, and while protecting American interests in the region remains critical, Mr. Chairman, we cannot justify sending our taxpayer dollars to a nation while being unable to safeguard those dollars from exploitation by Iran, ISIS, and other terror groups. Iran's influence over Iraq is so emboldened that Iraq essentially serves as a proxy state and haven for Iranian terror activity. Iraq has a literal arrest warrant out for President Trump for killing terrorist Soleimani. The Pentagon has disclosed that large portions of Iraq's security forces are overrun by Iranian-backed militants and IRGC terrorists, the same ones who continue to target American troops in the Middle East and the same ones who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in 2019--and we want to send them money. This money is not countering terrorism.…”